Articles

For the past two years, Katherine “Janie” Bryant has been living with “Mad Men.” As costume designer for the critically acclaimed drama, she’s responsible for creating a believable style that reflects the personalities and motivations of the series’ characters. “I deal with every character on an individual basis per episode,” said Janie. “The design happens…

On July 23rd, Los Angeles welcomed Red One owners from around the globe as they gathered to participate in the seven-day REDucation intensive workshop. “The first REDucation series was sold out after three weeks,” said Createasphere’s president Kristin Petrovich. “The event attracted attendees from all over the world, from areas as far away as…

Where can one view an LED glove worn by Michael Jackson and a model spaceship used on the film “Alien,” catch a sneak peak of disaster movie “2012” and obtain signatures from movie stars, directors, writers, and artists of all kinds? ComicCon is that one stop shopping experience for fans of all things television, movies,…

With an increasing number of visual effects companies collaborating on a project together, Sony Pictures Imageworks decided it was time to share some of their programming applications. On July 30th, five technologies developed by Imageworks: OSL (a programmable shading language for rendering), Field3d (a voxel data storage library), Maya Reticule (a Maya plug-in for camera…

The workload of a second unit director can differ depending on the nature of the project. On the recent release, “Public Enemies,” Bryan Carroll let the sky be the limit for his responsibilities. “My role involved the aerial shots,” said Carroll. “My job as second unit director was to help build the journey of the…

Perhaps no other film has done as much for both the ecological restoration of rivers in the West and for production in the state of Montana as Robert Redford’s “A River Runs Through It.” Based on Norman MacClean’s popular 1976 novella about a family of Montana men in the 1930s whose passion for fly…

Former Vice President Al Gore taught Davis Guggenheim a lesson in editing. While directing the Oscar-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” Guggenheim wanted to capture a very personal, introspective discussion from Al Gore. However, he noticed the quantity of crew and equipment brought into Gore’s house lead to a formulaic, dry narrative. Guggenheim had to find…

On Wednesday, June 24th, 411 Publishing and the PGA held the first in a series of webinars focusing on production incentives. Incetives 101: What Every Producer Needs to Know to Maximize Production Incentives was an hour-long free webinar that provided an overview of what production incentives are, how to get them, how to manage them,…

Many up-and-coming producers get their start by toiling through grunt work at a major production company. Doug Lloyd and Georgia Menides took a different path. “We met when we were both volunteering for a public access station in Worcester, MA,” said Menides. “We both had the desire to raise the bar pretty high.” …

Greening Hollywood, under the direction of Paige Donner, wants to make an eco impact on the production community. In order to do this, she’s getting the message out, guild by guild. Greening Hollywood: Guild by Guild kicked of its inaugural event on Sunday June 14th. The first in a series of panels that focuses on…

By: Marjorie Galas When it came to producing a three day conference complete with two mixers and an award presentation, the Producers Guild of America did not disappoint. The Produced By Conference kicked off its weekend program June 5th at the Paramount Studios Lot with a cocktail social. The following two days, 900+ registered…

What do “armies of ants,” “pumping in prison,” and “the Statue of Liberty” all have in common? They are all clips available on the HBO Archives. Originated in 2002, the HBO Archives provides stock footage for licensing as well as royalty free clips for commercial and professional use. Their main categories: Sports, Wildlife, Contemporary,…

“I just couldn’t believe it when I got it home and there it was in the house. Fantastic. This was the one. This was the one that I was after.” This is what Jack White said about his first guitar in the documentary “It Might Get Loud.” Profiling the life experiences that contributed to…

When Rick Baker introduced Dick Smith as the “Godfather of Special Effects Makeup,” the packed Samuel Goldwyn Theater erupted into a frenzied applause and a standing ovation. Baker, who worked with Smith on “The Exorcist,” was the moderator of the evening, ushering in the various stages of Smith’s career with clips and panels. The…

After three years of service as the first vice president of the American Society of Cinematographers, Michael Goi, ASC, is moving up. The ASC’s Board of Governors, a body elected by the members of the ASC, had the task of filling the open position when Daryn Okada, ASC, stepped down from the role. Okada,…

A young boy told his father that he thought his classroom’s pet guinea pig had a secret life as a special agent. His father, visual effects master Hoyt Yeatman, became inspired by the concept and fleshed out a story. He told a friend about this creation. The friend, master producer Jerry Bruckheimer, saw the potential…

On June 24th, 411 Publishing and the PGA (Producers Guild of America) will co-produce a webinar entitled “Incentives 101: What Every Producer Needs to Know to Maximize Production Incentives.” “The incentives landscape has become increasingly complex,” said Sean Killebrew, Publisher of 411 Publishing. “411 is looking forward to partnering with the PGA on a…

On the evening of May 22nd, visitors of the Santa Monica Pier witnessed a variance to the usual food vendors and product hawkers: an outdoor movie screen. As part of a fund raiser benefiting the Santa Monica Pier Centennial, Producer C. Rich Wilson and director Dana Brown held the world premiere of their documentary “Highwater;”…

In the upcoming months, HD Expo will complete a metamorphosis into Createasphere. With the name change comes some exciting new opportunities that everyone in the entertainment industry, from set decorators to camera operators, graphic artists to editors, can benefit from. “We won’t really be changing, we’ll be expanding,” said Kristin Petrovich, President of HD Expo-Createasphere. …